Data breaches in June were a bit slower than this years previous months but still left far too many Americans seeking identity theft protection. In fact, if the 2.2 million billing records, which included 1.3 million Social Security numbers, weren’t lost on stolen data tapes at the University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics this would have been a slow month indeed, maybe not in terms of the number of breaches but at least in the number of Americans affected. Of note is the continued trend of a high number of data breaches at educational institutions.
What’s more disturbing than the number of occurrences each month is the disproportional number of educational breaches compared to corporate breaches. Is this due to the fact that they are actually obeying the law and reporting? Do businesses turn a blind eye to breaches for fear of negative publicity or legal retribution or do they just have better security, policies and procedures. Perhaps this is a discussion worth pursuing in another article. If it is of interest to you please let us know. For now, here is a short summary of data breaches reported in June and compiled by www.datalossdb.org. Please visit their site for further information including links to original articles.
Montgomery Ward
Hacked database results in loss of 51,000 credit card numbers
Texas Department of Public Safety
Private Information and Social Security numbers 826 employees stolen from contracted company
California Department of Consumer Affairs
Insecure electronic transmission of 5000 names and Social Security numbers
CNET Networks
Stolen computers put at risk the names, birth dates, Social Security numbers of over 6,500 people
Virgin Media
Lost an unencrypted CD containing bank account details of 3,000 customers
Connecticut Department of Labor
Lost documents containing names, addresses and Social Security numbers of about 2,100
Castlecroft Medical Practice
Stolen laptop containing names, addresses, dates of birth, and medical information puts 11,000 people at risk of identity theft
Texas Insurance Claims Services
Hundreds of names, addresses and Social Security numbers on files found in dumpster
AT&T
Stolen laptop exposes employee names, salary and Social Security numbers
Medisure
Tapes stolen containing thousands of employee names, addresses and medical details
University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics
Stolen data tapes contains 2.2 million billing records including 1.3 million Social Security numbers
1st Source Bank
Replaced debit cards for an unknown number of customers due to security risk
Cotton Traders
Website hacked and credit card details of 38,000 customers stolen
Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Private information including Social Security numbers found on “non-secure computer network”
Petroleum Wholesale
Files with names, addresses and debit and credit card numbers found in dumpster
Educational Breaches
Stanford University
Stolen laptop containing personal information puts 72,000 at risk of identity theft
Southeast Missouri State University
Former employee indicted for possessing 800 student names and Social Security numbers
Columbia University
Social Security numbers of 5,000 readily available on internet
Dickson County TN Board of Education
Stolen laptop exposes names and Social Security numbers of 850
University of Florida
Social Security numbers, names, and addresses of 11,300 accidentally posted online
University of South Carolina
Stolen computer containing personal information puts at 7,000 at risk
East Tennessee State University
Stolen computer containing personal information puts 6,200 at risk of identity theft
Oregon State University
Online orders of as many as 4,700 possibly compromised
So what should you do if you receive a letter in the mail informing you that your personal information has been compromised? What you need to do is start educating yourself about identity theft and learn about the different options you have to protect yourself. Read our article, Identity Protection – Do I Really Need It?, for some great advice. At the very least you should place a fraud alert yourself and monitor your credit report both of which can be done for free. Consider a credit freeze if you don’t need access to your credit. Explore our website and those of our partners LifeLock, LoudSiren, TrustedID and Identity Guard. All bring unique offerings to the table and each is respected in the industry. Identity protection is not that expensive and it is nice to have the peace of mind of a guarantee. Remember, your identity is your most precious possession, so protect it and keep your good name belonging to you.